Altitude's ascending key set on DI.FM

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Posted by phatbassss on Aug-07-2006 17:35:

Altitude's ascending key set on DI.FM

Did anyone else hear DJ Altitude's set on DI.FM today? I just caught the last 40 mins and it was blinding..
He did something different which I don't think I've heard in a DJ set before, cycling through all 12 keys in order harmonically to end up where the set began..
This is what it said on the di site:

Comment from Altitude:

I've tried something interesting with this month's show which I don't think has been done before... for those amongst you who are into the technical side of things, instead of mixing in key as I normally do (i.e. combining tracks that are in the same key or harmonics of that key for example C Major into G Major) this time I've mixed in ascending keys

Ideally I would have had 12 tracks, one for each key and started in C and finished up in B sort of like Bach's famous set of keyboard works the Well Tempered Klavier where there is one prelude and fugue for each key so 24 in all. Unfortunately because its only an hour show I couldn't fit in 12 tracks without having to edit bits out but still the idea is there, so every mix the key goes up a semitone or a tone throughout all 12 keys ending back where we started.

The idea is that the mix overall would feel like it was uplifting because literally it is lifting (harmonically) all the way through. So I would be very interested to hear your opinions whether it works or not. If it does then I will try and do a full 12 key cycle which I'll set up as a podcast or something...

Nerdy bit over.. enjoy the mix!
Altitude

I think this was a fucking cool idea.. has any other DJ set been structured like that does anyone know? And where can I get a copy of Altitude's set???

Posted by Mr.Mystery on Aug-07-2006 17:45:

I don't know, but I'm going to have to hear this.

Posted by nefardec on Aug-07-2006 18:07:

quote:
has any other DJ set been structured like that does anyone know?

I do this in my sets, and I'm sure any deejay who knows anything about harmonics knows the effect of stepping the key up around the circle of fifths does this to a degree too. As far as the sort of deliberate structure of changing the key up a fifth every track, i've never heard of it done, though it's not really a revolutionary idea.

I've never deliberately gone around the circle entirely except when I'm warming up before playing classical music haha. I will move up and down keys to change the intensity though, maybe like 3 or 4 changes max.

Interesting technically, not sure how interesting that is for a club setting though.

Posted by TOR on Aug-07-2006 18:11:

I'll have to hear this as well.. It'll be interesting to see how he avoids harmonic clashes.

Posted by Ivand on Aug-07-2006 18:34:

quote:
Originally posted by TOR
I'll have to hear this as well.. It'll be interesting to see how he avoids harmonic clashes.

does he?

Posted by phatbassss on Aug-07-2006 18:54:

well hes not going around the cycle of fifths, as i would understand it that would entail mixing from C to G to D to A to E to B to Fsharp to Dflat to Aflat to Eflat to Bflat to F and finally back to C which wouldn't really give you the effect of lifting up a key every time though would work harmonically and might be an interesting set as well!!

instead he is progressing chromatically through the keys ie C, Dflat, D, Eflat, E, F, Gflat, G, Aflat, A, Bflat, B and back to C. It didn't sound to me like it was clashing harmonically I guess its like the common songwriting trick which is to raise the last chorus by a semitone or a tone to give the track a 'lift'

the di.fm page about his show link is here http://www.di.fm/calendar/event.php?event=3653 and i followed that to his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/djaltitudeproductions which has some more info in a blog about this set.. i really want to get a copy but i dont think di.fm archive shows do they..
maybe if enough of us bug him on myspace he will post it online

Posted by nefardec on Aug-07-2006 19:19:

Huh, chromatically? I'll have to hear it.

Yeah I can't see how you would avoid key clashes, because every track has a ton of different notes besides the base note of the chord, including many times tones that are not in the scale of the key, so you're almost guaranteed key clashes.

Unless he's using some kind of software where he actually pitch adjusts the current track before he mixes in the next one.

I think "key clash" is a sort of archaic idea though, because its based on laws of sound that I would compare with, for instance palladian renaissance proportions in architecture. Modern music has a lot of things going on, for instance, with 12 tone scales, as does modern architecture, which often deconstructs ideas about balance and harmony in space the way modern music deconstructs balance and harmony in music.

So it would be kind of interesting to hear this set rise chromatically if there are clashes, because to me the 'key clash' would be so essential to the realization of what's occuring in the music, and that is rising levels of emotion

Posted by phatbassss on Aug-07-2006 22:25:

yeah nefardec you are right that you cant avoid key clashes especially when going up in semitones which is equivalent to a minor second, the most discordant interval in music.. however i think his point was not to avoid key clashes at all but to try and create a vibe from a mix that is continually lifting harmonically and in that sense i thought it was a pretty cool idea that worked well in execution on casual listen but i would really like to get hold of the set somehow so i can hear it again..
i messaged steve on his myspace page about it so if i can i'll post a link to the set somewhere

Posted by treepeople on Aug-08-2006 10:53:

wow i want to hear this set... if its anything like the quality of altitude 'tears in the rain', 'altitude', 'sunray' or any of his other productions it will be kickin

Posted by SPANIARD on Aug-08-2006 12:58:

Coolness